The Plant Lady: Here’s a list of household items that do wonders for your garden

Most gardeners know that dish soap and beer are helpful in the garden for insect and snail control. But there are other common household items that actually work in the garden as well. Here are some of my favorites.

Epsom salts

Epsom salts are known for easing aching muscles when added to a bath, but they can also help with your plants. Epsom salts are magnesium sulfate – a great source of the plant micronutrients magnesium and sulfur. Magnesium deficiency manifests as yellowing of the leaf tip – moving toward the centerline of the leaf – with the veins often remaining green for a short while. Sometimes leaves may curl upwards as well.

Magnesium is crucial in many plant functions, including chlorophyll (green pigment) development. As with all fertilizers, if added when not deficient it can hurt plants more than help. If a plant is not lacking a nutrient, adding more can cause imbalances in other nutrients and lead to burning.

But when signs of magnesium deficiency are presenting, using Epsom salts is a great go-to. To apply, add 1-2 tablespoons of Epsom salts to a gallon of water and either apply as a soil drench or spray on the foliage. Lastly, the often-repeated statement that “Epsom salts make tomatoes taste sweeter” is a myth.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has been known as an antifungal agent for years. Using it as a fungal dip on your cuttings can prevent rotting off.

Simply make a fresh cut on your cutting and dip the cut end into the cinnamon before placing in soil media. In addition to cuttings, cinnamon can help control powdery mildew (foliar fungus) and damping off (a disease that kills emerging seedlings). This is not the cheapest methodology for controlling powdery mildew, but for small applications or on plants that are sensitive to other treatments (such as sulfur or neem oil), this is a good option.

I know a carnivorous plant grower who can’t use fungicides on a group called Pinguicula due to them being extremely fungicidal-sensitive. To test if cinnamon would kill these like other fungicides, he dusted cinnamon on a pot of seeds. None of those seeds germinated while the non-treated pot had a great success rate.

Baking soda

Baking soda is also a known fungicide for powdery mildew. Sodium bicarbonate creates an alkaline environment on leaf surfaces – which is not ideal for fungal spores to take hold.

At the first sign of powdery mildew (white dusting on leaves), spray with a mixture of baking soda and water (3 tablespoons in a gallon of water). If treated early, 1 or 2 applications may be the only treatment needed. If there is an advanced infection or the first treatment does not slow it down, move on to sulfur or neem oil – as baking soda can add salt (sodium bicarbonate) to your soil and can cause some phototoxicity.

Dry milk

Most people don’t have dry milk in their pantries anymore. But if you do, how can it be used in the garden?

Sterilizing tools.

Studies have shown that milk can kill off certain viruses on pruning implements. Viruses often show up in tomatoes, roses and other plants as mottled yellow leaves and sometimes circular markings. Sadly, there is no cure for viruses and the plants need to be pulled once infected. They are easily transmittable on pruners, so sterilizing is a must when going between plants.

Rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and Lysol are great for sterilizing tools, but if those aren’t handy, dry milk can be the answer. A paper published by Michigan State in 2014 suggests soaking your pruners in a 20% solution of water and dry milk for one minute.

Rubbing alcohol

Mealybugs and aphids can be difficult to eradicate on houseplants. They often contain a waxy coating/material that is hard to penetrate.

Horticultural soap sprays and neem oil do work, but one of my favorite go-to household pest controls is rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl 70%). Dilute rubbing alcohol with 50% water and spray or brush on with an ear swab. Wait a few days to reapply if needed. Avoid using more than three times, as it can desiccate leaves. It is also best to avoid hairy leaves such as African violets and very thin foliage.

Vinegar

Vinegar can be used in a few gardening applications. First is for seed scarification.

Some seeds have a very hard covering (seed coat) that prevents water and gases from entering. In the wild, plants will not germinate until this seed coat is cracked. Usually this is done by freezing, heat or even passing through the digestive system of animals.

When seed scarification is required, vinegar can be used in some instances. Note: For thick seed coats, scratching with sand paper or soaking in sulfuric acid is called for. But for the others, soaking in white vinegar (5%) overnight will help.

Vinegar can also be used to kill off young weeds. The crucial word here is “young”. Once a weed has developed several sets of leaves, vinegar will usually only slightly burn the foliage. The key is applying vinegar to a small weed resulting in complete top burn. If a weed is an established perennial, vinegar will not work. It can kill the top off, but a perennial will almost always grow back from the roots.